“I’m not going to change who I am for anybody. I’m growing up and continuing to learn from my mistakes and trying not to make the same ones over and over again, but am I going to live in a shell or am I just going to hide from everybody and not do anything?

“I’m very committed to football. I’m committed to my job, but on the weekends, I’m going to enjoy my time off. We deserve it. We work hard here. I am going to enjoy my time off. I’m very about football and very about my job, which doesn’t get reported or won’t get reported, but I am going to enjoy my time off.

“That’s I think what everybody else does and that’s what I should do.”

He had more to say later.

“I’m going out. Everybody goes out on the weekends and enjoys their life and lives their life. And just for them, they don’t have people that when they walk into a place pull out their phones and all they want to do is follow me around and record everything. My situation is unique and different and now more than ever I’ve seen that it’s an every weekend thing wherever I’m at — whether it’s in Cleveland on a weekend, or in Dallas or anywhere on a weekend, people want to record what I’m doing because they think it’s a story.

“Everybody goes out and has fun. Everybody goes out and does that and I’m not doing anything that’s putting myself in a harmful situation.”

Most of the advice offer to Manziel has been measured, though. This isn’t the old guard trying to tamp down the next generation. Moon and Montana, especially, took on the tone of wise mentors earnestly trying to help a young player coming up in a high-scrutiny age. Moon spoke up while appearing on SiriusXM NFL Radio.

“My biggest problem with him, and it’s something he has to get used to and temper down a little bit, all guys are gonna go out and have a good time. Quarterbacks, all different positions. But you don’t want to make it as public. You want to keep it more of a low profile when you are out having a good time.”

When appearing on NFL Network, Montana drew on advice from coaching legend Bill Walsh, according to ESPNCleveland.com, to also opine on what Manziel should do.

This is sound advice, but it’s not difficult to see where Manziel is coming from. He’s gotten this far by being a devil-may-care player on the field. He hasn’t tried to be anything but the quarterback he wants to be, and it has worked.

Should Manziel change now that he’s reached the NFL? Will he have to, both on and off the field?

Frankly, it’s up to him to decide what to do with his life. One thing that is clear, however, is that life would be easier if Manziel heeded the advice that Browns teammate Joe Haden offered.

“You need to have a phone valet,” Haden said on WKNR-AM, according to GatorBait.net. “Tell your friends ‘put your phones away.’ We’re going to go out and have a good time and just don’t record what you’re doing.”